Italy teaching placement provides key lessons

Che Viaggio! The eleventh international teaching practicum trip to Italy was another great success, with 33 Bachelor of Education students from Nipissing’s Brantford campus travelling to beautiful Sulmona to teach English, immerse themselves in Italian culture, and learn vital lessons about teaching in a foreign country.
The Nipissing students travelled with faculty members Dr. Maria Cantalini-Williams, Dr. Christine Cho and Dr. Julie Corkett. The organization of the trip was supported by Angelo DiIanni of the Hamilton Dante Centre. Since 2007, approximately 400 Nipissing students have participated in the international practicum trips to Italy.

The school placements in Sulmona offered experiences teaching Italian students across a range of ages: Infanzia (3-6 years); Primaria (7-11 years); Media (12-14 years) and Superiore (13-19 years). The Italian associate teachers in each of these school placements were welcoming and expressed much gratitude for the interesting strategies used by the Nipissing students to engage Italian students.  The Italian students and their teachers were very excited to host the Canadian teachers. The lessons for Italian students were related to topics such as Canadian innovations, sports, celebrities, foods, arts and important landmarks. Nipissing students got the opportunity to reflect on their use of English grammar and Canadian heritage when developing appropriate lessons for the Italian students.

“Teaching in Italy has allowed us to adapt to new learning environments. We learned how to be quick on our feet in order to ensure the students gain a good learning experience. Creating a good rapport with associate teachers and students was essential in order to enhance our teaching capabilities. As much as we taught them about Canada, our students also taught us about Italy,” wrote students Olyvia Haffner and Vaarahi Rajakulendran on behalf of the Nipissing students reflecting on the trip.

Thanks to students Samantha Gowanlock, Jessica Gascon, Vaarahi  Rajakulendran, Emma Ruetz, Olyvia  Haffner, and Julia Rajsigl for providing the source material for this article.